What is arguably the strangest experience in The Legend of Zelda franchise draws heavily on a real-life ghost story for inspiration. Link can have several different kinds of spiritual encounters throughout the franchise, interacting with spirits that range from being entirely benign to extremely hostile. These can be distinctly unsettling at times, but one encounter in particular blurs the line between Hyrule and urban legends in a way that many people may not expect.

There are plenty of strange occurrences and haunted Depths of Tears of the Kingdom, the most striking spiritual encounter of all is also humbler in scale.

Zelda's Toilet Hand Is A Real Ghost Story

The Unusual Entity Is Directly Inspired By Japanese Stories

In three separate games, namely Oracle of Ages, Majora’s Mask, and Skyward Sword, Link can encounter a creepy hand reaching out of a toilet. These Hands are not hostile towards Link, and instead ask him for paper. It is one of the strangest things found in The Legend of Zelda, but these Hands are actually inspired by a real variety of stock ghost story found in Japan. As explained by Shigeru Miyamoto in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, these stories revolve around people using a traditional squatting-style Japanese toilet, only for a hand to grab at them from beneath.

Naturally, this idea can be very disconcerting, and Miyamoto acknowledges it is “a very scary story.” Despite this, however, the Hands Link meets are much less threatening than what the original stories imply. Instead, it seems they are simply desperate enough for toilet paper that any variety of paper will suffice. Oracle of Ages’ Hand accepts Stationary as part of the game’s trading quest, and Majora’s Mask’s ??? accepts any Letter or Title Deed. Likewise, Skyward Sword’s female ghost, Phoeni, can be given Cawlin’s love letter to Karane.

The Hands May Reference Multiple Ghosts

A Deadly Japanese Bathroom Spirit Offers His Own Victims Paper

Interestingly enough, there is another Japanese, more malevolent bathroom ghost who may also have influenced the Hands. Aka Manto is said to offer people a choice of colored paper, with the specific color determining how he kills his unsuspecting victim. Although the specifics vary, choosing red often results in bloodshed, whilst blue prompts strangulation. Surviving is best achieved by refusing Aka Manto’s paper or ignoring him altogether. Although it may simply be a coincidence, it is curious to note that Zelda’s hands effectively invert Aka Manto’s own actions by being the ones to ask for paper.

Phoeni is the only Hand who can be seen outside her toilet, as giving her Cawlin’s Letter will lead to her falling in love and stroking his hair while he sleeps (which inadvertently gives him nightmares).

Hand-like monsters are amongst the scariest monsters in The Legend of Zelda, but the ghosts that can be found haunting toilets are themselves some of the most benign spirits in the series. Although the toilet Hands can still be creepy and mysterious, they are also simply treated as some of the world’s odder inhabitants. It is interesting to see what these figures of creepy real-life ghost stories have become in The Legend of Zelda, with the games combining their unmistakable appearances with a far less menacing twist on their behavior.

Source: Entertainment Weekly